Budget 21: Can FM Nirmala Sitharaman pull-off a Pant or Pujara magic?

New Delhi: Ahead of the Union Budget, the Finance ministry had a cricketing       analogy to delve on. On Friday, while   revealing snippets from the freshly published Economic Survey for 2020-21, Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian made a cricket analogy.  He equated the  recovery posted by the Indian economy in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic with the herculean recovery made by the Indian cricket team during the Australian series. “The cover (cover page of the book on India’s Annual Economic Survey) also captures the V-Shaped recovery in the economy.                        Resilience of the Indian economy mirrors that of the Indian cricket team,” said Subramanian.   “This year’s economic survey is dedicated to Covid warriors who’ve helped upholding India. Doctors, Nurses, Scientists who’ve helped develop the vaccine in record time. Sanitation workers who’ve come in this time of adversity to uphold India,” he said.                                                                                                                               By the end of the press conference a puzzled journalist questioned Subramanian if the batting (policy-making) would be in the style of Pujara or Pant. To this, a bemused Subramanian retorted that the session on Monday may hold all the answers.  Subramanian who earned the sobriquet of The Thalinomist thanks to the 2020 economic survey revealed what to expect from the Finance Minister on Monday. “When the ball swings, bat like Pujara; And, when the swing stops, bat like Pant,” he revealed.                                                    On the economic front, the current survey has attributed to a V Shaped economic recovery yet an economic loss of 7.7 percent has been assumed for the current fiscal. According to the survey, the real growth rate for FY22 was assumed at 11.5 per cent based on IMF estimates.